11 Things Star Wars Could Learn From Medical Technology Today

The Medical Futurist 19 January 2017

No one can doubt I’m an enthusiastic Star Wars fan. I have a LEGO-Millennium Falcon and the Death Star at home. However, as The Medical Futurist I cannot help but see what medical technologies the episodes featured.

The digital health innovations we have today are so amazing that they could even improve the futuristic Star Wars universe with lightsabers and ubiquitous space travel. I binge-watched all 7 episodes to find the 11 most interesting technologies we already possess, but Star Wars not. Here they are.

1) Why is there no instant wound healing?

The most obvious discovery was that laser guns are common weapons in Star Wars, but there is no instant wound healing, although we have it today. A sponge-filled syringe that was announced in December, 2015, was designed to close up gaping gunshot wounds in seconds.

2) Where are the plastic surgeons?

Between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, Anakin Skywalker develops a scar over his right eye. When the scar appeared in Revenge of the Sith, there was no explanation as to how it got there. If he had access to a plastic surgeon, such skin problems could be resolved easily.

3) Why are the robots not using anesthesia?

Still in episode 3, when Anakin is burnt and loses his legs, robot surgeons work on him while he is in great pain. I kept on wondering why. They had no painkillers and anesthesia? No cold liquid therapy for the burnt tissue? Moreover, they put the mask on him while the skin was still not intact and susceptible to infections.

4) How come no one knows food scanners?

In the opening scene of Episode 1, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi drink what the droid brings them without checking exactly what the drink contained. Food scanners such as Tellspec or SCiO have great potential, and will be put on the market in the next years. These tools will tell us what we have on our plates: how many grams of sugar a piece of fruit contains, or what the alcohol percentage of a drink is.

5) How come they did not use blood biomarkers?

If midi-chlorians, the microorganisms that reside within all living cells and communicate with the Force, are in blood and can be measured with hand-held devices (as seen in Episode 1), why are there no clear blood biomarkers with which people could be screened to become Jedi apprentices easily?

6) Where are the super-fast medical devices?

Anakin finds his mother by using a really fast vehicle, but when he gets there and his mother is dying, there’s no way to rush for medical help, or to use a hand-held diagnostic device to discover how to treat her?

7) Did supercomputers disappear?

In episode 4, Han Solo says it takes a few minutes to get the coordinates from the navicomputer for faster space travel. While there are robots with artificial intelligence and free will such as R2D2, and a robotic midwife in episode 3; there are no smart artificial intelligence systems on board of starships? I believe the artificial intelligence algorythm, IBM Watson could easily navigate the Millennium Falcon thousands of times faster.

8) Do they not like smart clothes?

In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke almost freezes to death on the icy planet Hoth. They use state-of-the-art spaceships but they do not use smart clothes to keep them warm and safe? I just assume they do not like them, because I cannot even believe they were not familiar with this innovation. HexoSkin already developed a shirt with sensors woven into it that measure heart rate, breathing, number of steps, pace, and calories burned. The London-based D30 introduced a smart material last year. It provides terrific shock absorption and impact protection capabilities, which are naturally an ideal fit for basically every sport.

9) Did a prosthetics start-up disrupt the galaxy?

The fact that Luke’s arm did not bleed when Darth Vader cut it off, no matter how the lightsaber could cauterize his skin and tissues, is one thing, but Luke’s robotic arm in episode 6 looks much more life-like than Anakin’s metal one in episode 2. I guess a prosthetics start-up could have disrupted the galaxy’s industry in the meantime. A few more years and Organovo could print out skin tissue with their 3D bioprinters in real.

10) Do Stormtroopers have serious cloning issues?

Stormtroopers featured in Episode 2 were cloned from bounty hunter Jango Fett and look alike. But this does not mean that they should have the exact same phenotype, an individual’s observable traits, in their adulthood. Genetics loads the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger — meaning even though two people might have the same genetic background, but the chance of being exactly the same physically is very small. Look at identical twins who grew up in different environments.

11) Are symptoms after waking up from carbonite hybernation lighter in the galaxy?

Finally, when Han Solo wakes up from the carbonite state, he should be feeling way worse than he does on screen. Symptoms would include serious vomiting, dehydration, headache and even more. He might have been lucky to “only” temporarily lose his vision.

Now, let’s give them some credit.

There are also some good ideas though. In the underwater scenes of episode 1, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi wear devices on their mouths which let them breath in water. When Padmé gives birth to Leia and Luke in episode 3, the movie features a weirdly shaped, quite futuristic birth bed and a robotic midwife armed with artificial intelligence is overseeing the whole process.

If you watch the episodes again and keep your eyes open, you might catch even more ways our world could help the one of Rey, Luke and Han Solo. Until then, I will keep on being a fan, immerse into Rouge One – A Star Wars Story and pay attention argus-eyed what futuristic medical solutions the new episode is featuring.